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Robert Alves
Robert Alves (11 December 1745 - 1 June 1794) was a Scottish poet and prose writer. Life Alves was born in Elgin, Moray. His father's circumstances were humble, but as a boy of promise he was placed at the Elgin grammar school, where he made such good use of his opportunities that when sent to Aberdeen he took at Marischal College the highest bursary of the year in which he competed. An ‘Elegy on Time,’ written while he was at Aberdeen, procured him the friendship of James Beattie, then one of the professors of Marischal College. He graduated from Marischal with an M.A. in 1766.Robert Alves (1745-1794), English Poetry, 1579-1830. Web, Apr. 17, 2016. On leaving Aberdeen, Alves was successively master of a Banffshire parish school and tutor in the family of a gentleman who offered him a living in the Church of Scotland. But he preferred the head-mastership, with a lower stipend, of the Banff grammar school, which he held from 1773 until 1779, when, on the failure of his suit to a young lady of beauty and fortune, he migrated to Edinburgh. There he taught the classics and several modern languages, occasionally translating and compiling for the Edinburgh booksellers. In 1780 appeared his Ode to Britannia ... On occasion of our late successes, in which the gallantry of Scottish officers during the campaign in the Carolinas against the rebelling American colonists was sung with patriotic enthusiasm. In 1782 he published a volume of Poems, and in 1789 Edinburgh: A poem in two parts, a lively performance describing the topography and social aspects of the Scottish capital, together with the Weeping Bard: A poem in sixteen cantos, much of which is plaintively auto-biographical.Alves, Robert (1745-1798), Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 01]. Wikisource, Web, Apr. 17, 2016. Alves died suddenly in 1794, while seeing through the press the work which appeared in the same year as Sketches of the History of Literature: Containing lives and characters of the most eminent writers in different languages, ancient and modern, and critical remarks on their works; together with several literary essays. Writing His Sketches of the History of Literature display acuteness and a reading creditably wide, but neither the powers nor the attainments of the writer were sufficient for the task which he had undertaken. Lord Gardenstone, a literary Scottish judge, seems to have superintended its issue from the press, and he contributed to it several critical observations. Publications Poetry *''Time: An elegy'' (by "A student of Marischal College). 1766. *''Odes on Several Subjects''. Edinburgh: William Creech, 1778. *''Poems''. Edinburgh: privately printed, 1782. *''Ode to Britannia: For the year 1780: Occasioned by our late successes''. Edinburgh: William Creech, 1780. *''Edinburgh: A poem, in two parts / The Weeping Bard: A poem, in sixteen cantos. Edinburgh: privately published, 1789. *''Sonnets. 1792. *''Banks of Esk and other poems''. 1801. Non-fiction *''Sketches of a History of Literature: Containing lives and characters of the most eminent writers ... and critical remarks on their works. Together with several literary essays. Edinburgh: Alex. Chapman, 1794. **facsimile edition, Gainesville, FL: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1967; New York: Garland Press, 1970. ''Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Robert Alves, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Apr. 17, 2016. See also *List of British poets References External links ;Poems *Robert Alves at PoemHunter (8 poems) ;Books *Robert Alves at the Online Books Page ;About *Robert Alves in English Poetry, 1579-1830 * Alves, Robert (1745-1794 Category:Scottish poets Category:1745 births Category:1794 deaths Category:People from Elgin, Moray Category:18th-century Scottish people Category:Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Category:People educated at Elgin Academy, Moray